background:
Davis and
Moore write from the functionalist paradigm, demonstrating social inequality.
The study
claims that there is a scale of talents and a scale of positions, and in order
to push the talented people to high positions they must be rewarded - rewards
for ego, money, prestige, spiritual, economic and social.
Inequality
stems according to Davis and Moore from the reward of different positions in
different forms and is therefore functional as it has a role and purpose in
society. The article “some principles of stratification” refers to the system
of positions and not to the details that perceive these positions. The central
question is why certain individuals come to different positions of prestige.
Key
Assumption: No society is neither without class nor without stratification
Methods of
analysis:
Understanding
the universal features of social stratification
The changing
features of social stratification
The
functional need for social stratification
The
functional need that explains the universal reality of stratification is the
requirement facing every society to place and motivate individuals within the
social structure. Society must instill in the appropriate details in Society
the desire to serve in certain positions and when they are placed in these
positions to instill in them the desire to fulfill the duties involved in those
positions.
There is a
constant process of turnover, new people are constantly joining the world and
their absorption must be regulated and motivated within the positions.
The
functional need for social stratification:
The
functional need that explains the universal reality of stratification is the
requirement facing every society to place and motivate individuals within the
social structure. Society must instill in the appropriate individuals in society
the desire to serve in certain positions and when they are placed in these
positions to instill in them the desire to fulfill the duties involved in those
positions.
There is a
constant process of turnover, new people are constantly joining the world and
their absorption must be regulated and motivated within the positions.
There are
two types of propulsion - in any system both of these types of propulsion are needed
In a
competitive system - motivation to reach certain positions
In a
non-competitive system - motivation to fulfill the obligations involved in
positions
Different
positions require different levels of special skills and special training and
some are more important than others functionally.
Society
needs some rewards that it can use as incentives and a way of dividing these
incentives differentially according to positions.
Rewards and
their distribution become part of the social order and thus lead to the
formation of social stratification.
Types of
rewards according to Davis and Moore:
1.Rewards
that contribute to livelihood and comfort
2.Rewards
that affect mood and entertainment
3.Rewards
that add to self-esteem and the spread of the self - a function of the opinion
of others
These types
of rewards should be divided into a differential division according to
positions.
The rewards
are built into the position, they are the rights associated with it - the side
/ side benefits of the position, these additions are sometimes related to a
functional connection to the obligations involved in the position.
The meaning
of stratification: through social inequality, societies guarantee that the most
qualified people will serve in the most important positions, the people must be
differentiated in terms of prestige and appreciation, and for that a certain
degree of inequality is needed.
The
positions that deserve the most reward are usually positions that are of the
utmost importance to society and that require the most degree of training or
talent. Society should reward positions in a way that is sufficient to ensure that
they are staffed by the right people.
The very
idea of a position implies that the subject needs to do certain things as a
result of the ability inherent in it from birth or as a result of training - it
is possible that one or the other will be rare.
There are
positions that claim such natural talents that necessarily only a few people
can serve in them. The population is often full of potential but the training
is so long and so expensive that few can train themselves.
When the
position is of functional importance it needs gravity that will allow it to
compete with other positions on those with the necessary skills i.e. it must be
of high rank on the social scale, confer great prestige, high salary etc.
A difference
between one stratification system and another can be explained by the factors
influencing the two determinants of differential compensation - job importance
and manpower scarcity, important positions in one company may be less important
in another, there may be differences in the conditions companies face or their
degree of internal development.
Summary of
the principles of social stratification:
1.The
stratified system is influenced by the values of the society in question.
2.There is a
difference between different societies and sometimes even within the same
position
3. mobility
- is the basic premise of this whole model and says that the system is
sophisticated enough to allow people born in the lower classes to climb higher,
to allow the discovery of the talented people born to the lower classes - not
to allow only the upper classes to be in better positions. More and more equal
opportunities will be created and there will be more mobility. If the system is
not sophisticated then people in the lower classes will not have the opportunity
to reach higher positions. Most studies show that in the end the model is more
normative of what should be than an analytical of what is happening. The theory
succeeds in showing that whoever reaches the top, for the high positions is the
one who is talented.
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